diff --git a/block/file-win32.c b/block/file-win32.c
index ab69bd8..e2900c3 100644
--- a/block/file-win32.c
+++ b/block/file-win32.c
@@ -299,6 +299,11 @@
             .type = QEMU_OPT_STRING,
             .help = "host AIO implementation (threads, native)",
         },
+        {
+            .name = "locking",
+            .type = QEMU_OPT_STRING,
+            .help = "file locking mode (on/off/auto, default: auto)",
+        },
         { /* end of list */ }
     },
 };
@@ -333,6 +338,7 @@
     Error *local_err = NULL;
     const char *filename;
     bool use_aio;
+    OnOffAuto locking;
     int ret;
 
     s->type = FTYPE_FILE;
@@ -343,10 +349,24 @@
         goto fail;
     }
 
-    if (qdict_get_try_bool(options, "locking", false)) {
+    locking = qapi_enum_parse(&OnOffAuto_lookup,
+                              qemu_opt_get(opts, "locking"),
+                              ON_OFF_AUTO_AUTO, &local_err);
+    if (local_err) {
+        error_propagate(errp, local_err);
+        ret = -EINVAL;
+        goto fail;
+    }
+    switch (locking) {
+    case ON_OFF_AUTO_ON:
         error_setg(errp, "locking=on is not supported on Windows");
         ret = -EINVAL;
         goto fail;
+    case ON_OFF_AUTO_OFF:
+    case ON_OFF_AUTO_AUTO:
+        break;
+    default:
+        g_assert_not_reached();
     }
 
     filename = qemu_opt_get(opts, "filename");